Blogging can be a scary adventure. Many are unaware of the many aspects of blogging – and the great amount of knowledge required to successfully launch and continue expanding a blog from its “birth.” Use the following tips to familiarize yourself with the different avenues of blogging – and you’re likely to have a much more successful blogging experience.

Setting Up Your Blog

  • Settle on a blogging platform that fits your style and future plans. WordPress is thought of as a more stable solution – on a hosted plan. Blogger can also be a valuable blogging platform, as it’s free and indexed quickly by Google.
  • Find a good theme/layout that matches your blogs feel and goals. If you’re a business – find a business theme. If your blog is about travel – develop a theme based on traveling the world. Your goal is to establish your blog as a “hangout” for your readers, where they can feel welcome and comfortable.
  • Identify what you’d like to write about. I’d suggest finding a topic you have a passion for – as this will keep you from burning out in the long run.
  • Make it easy for readers to contact you. A contact page should be linked to and prominent – and your contact information should also be available in your blog’s sidebar.

Blogging On Your Blog

  • Vary your writing style, and begin experimenting with post sizes and formats. Most bloggers like to keep post around roughly 300 words, but feel free to experiment with sizes much larger and/or smaller.
  • Integrate photos with your posts in order to grab your reader’s attention.
  • Develop a schedule for writing posts. Some like to write posts every morning – while others – only blog weekly. In order to give your readers something to look forward to, some schedule must be developed.

Promoting Your Blog

  • Be sure to incorporate feeds on your blog – and easy access for readers, as this will become a great way to keep your community updated on your latest content.
  • Let your friends and family know about your latest blogging projects. Word of mouth has the ability to travel like wildfire.
  • Begin expanding your reach in the social media community. Grab a Twitter account based on your blog, create a Facebook page, and become a leader in your niche. The goal is to become a trusted source in your blog’s topic in order to become reliable and withhold credibility.
  • After you post an article on your blog – be sure to update your social media contacts regarding the new content. A quick Tweet or Facebook status update should suffice.

Further Blogging Tips

To continue expanding your knowledge of blogging – I’d recommend subscribing to my feed, as I update often with quick tips and articles related to the entire blogging experience.

Share with us your blogging tips for beginners – and more!